PACKING CASES 251 



Sometimes queen cells will be started very early in preparation 

 for swarming. At the same time colonies without protection 

 were making slow progress toward building up. 



It is very apparent that such colonies as described on May 

 first are worth much more as honey gatherers during the clover 

 flow. When colonies reach this stage sufficiently early it is some- 

 times possible though seldom advisable to make increase ahead 

 of the clover flow. Where the main flow is later in the season, 

 this extra early brood rearing is not so important, though the 

 colonies should be strong. Over large areas of the Northern 

 States the bees need careful attention to build them up early 

 enough, as a rule. In these packing cases the bees will some- 

 times store surplus from fruit bloom and dandelion. 



Reports of success from wintering in these or similar cases 

 are uniformly good where the work has been properly done, over 

 nearly all the States and Canada. 



For large apiaries a case which holds four colonies, two 

 facing east and two west, is perhaps more desirable. The worst 

 objection to packing cases is the large amount of labor in pre- 

 paring for winter and the bother of storing the cases in summer. 

 As one bee-keeper expressed it, the results were good but it 

 required acres of space to store his packing cases in summer. 

 Instead of nailing the cases into permanent form it is a common 

 practice to fasten at the corners with hooks, so that the parts can 

 be piled up compactly during the summer months. In large 

 apiaries the use of drygoods boxes is hardly practical because 

 of the difficulty of disposing of so much bulk when not in use. 

 Where only a few are in use they can readily be turned to account 

 as chicken coops in summer (Fig. 117). 



The packing case is perhaps the safest and most generally 

 successful of any method of wintering, taking the country as a 

 whole. It is adapted to any section, north or south, and permits 

 the bees to fly wherever the weather is sufficiently warm. There 

 is much trouble from outdoor wintered colonies losing large num- 

 bers of bees which fly out on bright days when it is too cold for 



